April 14, 2008

Granny Ragland's Chocolate Gravy

When I was growing up in Tennessee, I loved going to visit my grandparents. Exploring the old barn in the field behind their house. Running around the cool, dark basement filled with Pa's tools and Granny's canning supplies. Horsing around with my cousins on the rope swing in the backyard.

But the best part was waking up to a house already filling with breakfast smells -- eggs, country ham -- and walking into the kitchen to find that Granny had made a batch of biscuits and her famous chocolate gravy.

Last year, when Granny asked if I wanted anything in particular for Christmas, I told her I would love it if she would just write down some of her favorite recipes. On Christmas Day, when she handed me a stack of handwritten recipe cards, I knew without looking which one would be on top -- this delicious chocolate gravy.

To this day, I've never heard of chocolate gravy outside my family. I asked Granny why she ever started cooking it. She told me it was because my grandfather's mom had made it for him, and Granny wanted to make Pa something familiar -- yet special -- when they were newlyweds.

I can't think of anything better than this.

Okay, let's get one thing out of the way: Yes, the notion of chocolate gravy for breakfast is ludicrous! I mean, it's basically a sort of chocolate pudding served on biscuits.

It's ridiculous. I don't care.

And neither will you.

The next time you want to make someone feel special (even if it's yourself!), make up a batch of buttermilk biscuits, douse them in this rich, gooey, chocolaty deliciousness, and watch the smiles light up around your table. --ZP

Comments

Granny Ragland's Chocolate Gravy

When I was growing up in Tennessee, I loved going to visit my grandparents. Exploring the old barn in the field behind their house. Running around the cool, dark basement filled with Pa's tools and Granny's canning supplies. Horsing around with my cousins on the rope swing in the backyard.

But the best part was waking up to a house already filling with breakfast smells -- eggs, country ham -- and walking into the kitchen to find that Granny had made a batch of biscuits and her famous chocolate gravy.

Last year, when Granny asked if I wanted anything in particular for Christmas, I told her I would love it if she would just write down some of her favorite recipes. On Christmas Day, when she handed me a stack of handwritten recipe cards, I knew without looking which one would be on top -- this delicious chocolate gravy.